Leagalizing Marijuana (and Other Drugs)?

This mainly deals with marijuana, but also applies to other drugs. I feel these are some important questions that never get answered...

Why do people think marijuana has no long term consequences? I've known people who've used it in their youth and have learning disabilities now because of it. Their response was "just don't, it isn't worth it".

Why do people need the "escape" of marijuana (or other drugs)? Is this fueling a real medical need or an addiction to mind altering substances? Why do we celebrate "dumbing down" the population in the name of freedom? As a side note, chemicals don't magically exit the body when it's time to drive or go to work (like operating heavy machinery or making serious decisions in the medical industry). What users do "in the privacy of their own home" tends to not stay in their own home like many others have suggested. Some side effects and chemicals can stay in the body at significant dosages for days after initial usage, especially if the initial dosage is high and the half life is long.

One of my net buddies recently had "friends of the family" come live with them after they lost their house. They turned out to be heavy marijuana users. They repeatedly claimed "everything was under control". They ended up causing many problems and then stole thousands of dollars worth of cash and property from them and disappeared. The police refused to do anything about it. This isn't the first time I've heard a story like this. Did these "users" really have it under control?

If marijuana is such a great drug for people with true medical needs, why is most of it smoked? That is one of the worst and most unsafe ways of getting a metered dosage. Why haven't the major drug companies extracted the useful chemicals from marijuana and made pills out of it? (And for the record, I don't doubt there are some useful chemicals in marijuana.) This would fix the metered dosage problem and remove many of the other harmful chemicals. This would also allow people who have clear medical needs for those specific chemicals to get them in other states under FDA control.

Others make the argument that alcohol is just as bad and has been around far longer. I tend to agree, but this is somewhat of a red herring by people who failed recent history. Our modern plumbing and water treatment system has only been around for 100 years or so. Before that, water based illnesses were very common, were often deadly, and could kill many during an outbreak. Alcohol is a sterilizer and would kill many of those pathogens. It was a necessity to be used properly. It is important to note that many have forgotten that the ethical codes of the day also frowned on people being "drunkards". Do not mix the arguments for safe fluid intake vs. socially getting stoned.

More questions: Why is there such an underground market for marijuana and other drugs? Why do people go to such extremes to produce them? ...to get them? ...to steal for them? ...to kill for them? What good would come from bringing all this into "legalized" daylight? My only answer so far is "none".

Because of these counter arguments I pose, I can not and will not take legalizing marijuana (and other drugs) seriously.